Tiger Woods lines up his putt on No. 3 on Friday during his second-round 5-under 67 at The Players Championship. / Debby Wong, USA TODAY Sports

by Steve DiMeglio, USA TODAY Sports

by Steve DiMeglio, USA TODAY Sports

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - Tiger Woods has won at three of his favorite haunts this season - Torrey Pines, Doral and Bay Hill.

He's in an ideal spot to win his fourth event this year on a track that has haunted him in the past - the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.

Greeting him for the third round, however, will be someone who has been an irritation at times and hasn't always been a friendly face - Sergio Garcia.

The two set up a Saturday showdown with stellar Friday morning play in the second round, providing fans an 18-hole dual instead of the career rivalry the golf world started hoping for in 1999 when Garcia was known as El Nino and Woods was approaching his height of powers.

But basically, there hasn't been much of a rivalry, at all, over the years. Woods, of course, has 14 majors, Garcia zero. The two have been paired or grouped 19 times in 12 tournaments, starting with the first two rounds of the 1999 Masters. Woods is 12-3-4 in those matchups, including a 6-0 mark on the weekend. Woods also has won eight of the 12 tournaments the two were paired or grouped for at least one round. And in the last 10 rounds they shared, Woods is 23 under par while Garcia is 6 over.

The two, who are cordial to one another but don't phone or text for dinner plans, had long left the golf course when the final pairing was played out. Woods, the world No. 1, who counts just one Players Championship among his 77 PGA Tour victories and has just one top-10 since winning here in 2001, looked like he loved the Stadium Course for the second day in a row as he fired a second consecutive 5-under-par 67 Friday in the Tour's showcase event.

Sitting at 10-under 134, Woods is looking up at just one player - Garcia. The 2008 Players champion made seven birdies in a nine-hole stretch, including five in a room starting at No. 2, to fire a career-tying best 65 in the Players Championship to finish at 11 under.

Roberto Castro, who tied the course record with a 63 in the first round, shot 78 to fall to 3 under. Rory McIlroy, who shot 66 in the first round, shot 72. Masters champion Adam Scott followed up his opening-round 69 with a 68.

Missing the cut of even-par 144 were, among others, Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Ernie Els, Graeme McDowell and Vijay Singh, who brought a lawsuit against the PGA Tour on Wednesday.

"Even though, over the years, I haven't played my best here, I've still won here. Twice, technically," Woods said, alluding to his U.S. Amateur win here in 1994. "I know how to get around this golf course. This course, more than most, really tests every facet of your game. You have to drive the ball well. You have to hit your irons in the correct spots, and if you don't hit your irons in the correct spots, you're going to have some really funky up-and-downs.

"It's about trying to manage the ball in the correct spots, and I've done that the first two days."

Woods, who broke 70 in the first round for the first time in his Players career and finished with two consecutive rounds in the 60s for the first time since 2004, finished with a birdie, one of five on the day to go along with an eagle from 20 feet on the second hole. In ideal conditions - smooth greens, little wind, modest heat - Woods was rarely in trouble and made two bogeys.

"You just have to come here playing well, and I just thought what I've done so far this year has been pretty good and better than most," Woods said. "I think that I was headed in the right direction coming into this week. I played well at Augusta. My last two weeks of practice have been really solid and I came in here with some confidence.

"I felt like I warmed up really well today. I hit a lot of good shots this morning, and I felt like I hit the ball well all day. I hit the ball really solid, even though I missed a couple left, I missed a couple right, but I really hit them flush, and that's always a good sign. â?¦ I'm pleased with every facet of (my game). I feel like I'm driving it well, hitting it well with my irons, my distance control is good, short game is really solid, and I'm making my share of putts."

Garcia certainly made his share. After getting nearly nothing out of his game at the start - "I gave myself chances but couldn't make a putt," Garcia said - one finally dropped on No. 16, his seventh hole of the day, and another on No. 18. And he was off to the races with birdies on six of his last eight holes.

"I actually thought that the one on the last was going to go in, too," Garcia said. "I hit it exactly where I wanted, but unfortunately it just didn't break to the right. â?¦ But yeah, I made one on 8, and one on 6 and 5 and 4 and 3 and 2.

" â?¦ I got on a great run there."

The run started with a birdie from 14 feet on the second. He followed with birdie putts of 7, 8, 19 and 26 feet. Then he canned a 40-footer on No. 8.

"Everything seems kind of clearer in your head when you're putting well," Garcia said. "You seem to see the break. You seem to feel like everything is a little bit easier, a little bit smoother, and you hit the putt and it manages to go in. It's good to enjoy them. Unfortunately if it was easy we would have plenty of those, but it's not. You enjoy them while you have them."

Westwood is enjoying himself at The Players - a rarity. He has as many missed cuts (3) as he does top-10s, and he has a T22, T38, T48 and last year's T61 on his record. He hasn't made a bogey so far this week.

"I've played here before I think I was 10-under after two rounds. When there's no breeze around here and it's soft, then you can score, but I wouldn't say it was by any means easy out there," Westwood said. "You have to play well and hit a lot of fairways so you can attack the flags.